Four banks hit by credit card fraud

SINGAPORE — Customers of at least four banks here — Citi, DBS, UOB and OCBC — have been hit by fraudulent credit card transactions in recent days.

The affected banks did not answer questions on how many customers were affected but cardholders who were hit told TODAY that they had received SMS notifications from their banks informing them of transactions amounting to NT$1,150 (S$48) with Neweb Technologies.

The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) said investigations are being carried out and assured affected customers that they will not be liable for these fraudulent transactions, while the banks said they have taken measures such as replacing the affected credit cards, monitoring card transactions and offering reimbursements.

The latest incident came despite banks here beefing up credit card security measures, including the use of EMV chip technology to prevent card fraud.

Account Executive Bevan Chen, 25, said he received an SMS from OCBC Bank around 3pm yesterday, asking him to contact the bank immediately as they required his confirmation on a transaction made on his credit card. He was then asked by the bank if he had authorised a transaction, which amounted to more than NT$1,000 to a Neweb Technologies.

Likewise, a 33-year-old strategy manager, who only wants to be known as Mr E Wan, said his wife was startled to receive three consecutive SMSes from Citibank Singapore on Sunday morning, with each SMS indicating charges of NT$1,150.

To their relief, they were told by the bank the transactions would be cancelled and the bank would look into the matter.

Citibank said yesterday affected customers will not be liable for these unauthorised charges, while DBS, OCBC and UOB said reimbursements and refunds will be made for such transactions.

Mr Adam Rahman, the Managing Director, Head of Corporate Affairs of Citi Singapore, also noted that since Saturday, they have responded to calls from customers who received alerts of the unauthorised transactions on their mobile phones. They have since taken steps to block transaction activity from the merchant in Taiwan.

“There was no breach of any systems within Citibank,” he said.

A DBS spokesperson also confirmed yesterday that some customers have contacted them regarding “unauthorised transactions by Neweb Technologies”. They have also been “actively reaching out” to customers who may have been affected and will replace their cards promptly.